Weimar Problems, 1919-23

The Weimar Republic faced many problems.  Perhaps the greatest danger was 'the weakness within' - the constitution gave the President, the states and the army too much power, whilst proportional voting meant that the Reichstag was divided and weak.  In 1919-23, extremists on both the Left (especially the Spartacist revolt) and the Right (especially the Kapp Putsch) tried to overthrow the government.

The worst crisis occurred in 1923, when the French invaded to try to force Germany to pay reparations.  This led to hyperinflation and a number of rebellions (particularly Hitler's Munich Putsch).

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

Basic account from BBC Bitesize on Political Unrest 1919-23

In greater depth:

Spartacist Uprising

Bavarian Soviet Republic

Kapp Putsch

Red Ruhr Uprising

Hyperinflation

Black Reichswehr

Munich Putsch

- Giles Hill on the challenges facing the Weimar republic

YouTube

Mr Dear's Helpful History - overview, and a brilliant Mnemonic!

Mr Portman's video on why the Repubic suffed so many problems

... and on individual events:

•  Long time ago on the Spartacist Revolt

•  The Soviet Republic in Bavaria, 1919

•  Long time ago on the Kapp Putsch

•  The Red Ruhr Rising from History with Hubert

•  Long time ago on Hyperinflation

•  Munich Putsch - from the TV drama The Rise of Evil

What problems faced the Weimar Government 1919–1923?  [ILRIM]

1. Ineffective Constitution

The Weimar Constitution did not create a strong government:

• Article 48 of the constitution gave the President sole power in ‘times of emergency’ – something he took often.

• The system of proportional voting led to 28 parties. This made it virtually impossible to establish a majority in the Reichstag, and led to frequent changes in the government. During 1919-33, there were twenty separate coalition governments and the longest government lasted only two years. This political chaos caused many to lose faith in the new democratic system.

• The German states had too much power and often ignored the government.

• The Army, led by the right-wing General Hans von Seeckt, was not fully under the government’s control.  It failed to support government during the Kapp Putsch or the crisis of 1923.

• Many government officials – especially judges – were right-wing and wanted to destroy the government.  After the Kapp Putsch, 700 rebels were tried for treason; only 1 went to prison.  After the Munich Putsch, Hitler went to prison for only 9 months.

2. Left-wing Rebellions

The Communist KPD hated the new government:

• In Jan 1919, 50,000 Spartacists rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht.

• In April 1919, Communist Workers’ Councils seized power all over Germany, and a Räterepublik ('Soviet Republic') took power briefly in Bavaria .

• In March 1920, after the failure of the Kapp Putsch, a workers' uprising and Red Army rebelled in the Ruhr.

3. Right-wing terrorism

Many right-wing groups hated the new government for signing the Versailles Treaty (June 1919):

• The Kapp Putsch: in March 1920, a Freikorps brigade rebelled against the Treaty, led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp.  It took over Berlin and tried to bring back the Kaiser.

• Nationalist terrorist groups murdered 356 politicians.  In August 1921 Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice (and therefore a 'November criminal'), was shot.  In 1922, they assassinated Walter Rathenau, the SPD foreign minister, because he made a treaty with Russia.

4. Invasion-Inflation: the crisis of 1923

The cause of the trouble was Reparations – the government paid them by printing more money, causing inflation.  In January 1923, Germany failed to make a payment, and France invaded the Ruhr.  This humiliated the government, which ordered a general strike, and paid the strikers by printing more money, causing hyperinflation:

• In Berlin on 1 October 1923, soldiers from the Black Reichswehr rebelled, led by Bruno Buchrucker.

• The Rhineland declared independence (21–22 October).

• In Saxony and Thuringia the Communists took power.

5. Munich Putsch

On 8–9 November 1923, Hitler’s Nazis tried to take control of Bavaria (the Munich Putsch).

One of the main problems for the Weimar government was the right-wing Dolchstosslegende – the claim that the Army had been 'stabbed in the back' by the new government (whom the right called 'the November Criminals') when it signed the Treaty of Versailles.